Backlash (Merchants of Hope)
Backlash (Merchants of Hope) Backlash is an Earth Pony Stallion and the protagonist of Merchants of Hope. History Born in a small settlement on the outskirts of the frontlines from the great war, next to the city of Hoofington. He was raised alongside his brother Crankshaft to scavange old world junk that his mother would sell. Uppon repairning an old artiliary emplacement, he earned his cutie mark and took up a career of repair while his brother left the family to join up with a Hoofington gang. Once Backlash had saved up enough caps from tradeing, his mother hired a wasteland trader to escort them to an ancesteral family farm. Along the journey, Skyline crash landed into a nearby lake, where upon Backlash attempted to rescue her. In doing so, his mother fended off a Radigator in order to give him and the injured Skyline enough time to escape while she eventualy ended up sacrificing herself. The trader she had hired adopted both Backlash and Skyline as his own and put them to work when they were old enough to go out on their own, later dieing himself and handing the business over to them. Present Day After finding a note left to him by the Ministry Mare Pinkie Pie explaining his lineage, he embarks on a journey to a pre-war bunker only the decendent of a Ministry Mare can enter. With Skyline and Brass Tacks in tow, they travel through the ruins of Manehattan, along the way picking up the Talon mercinary Carlotta. Partway to the facility, the group is ambushed by three alicorns, where Backlash is seperated by The Goddess and teleported to the entrance of the bunker. There he meets Elder Strawberry Sorbet momentarily before The Goddess asks him to find the location of the Black Book. Inside the bunker, Backlash finds an A.I. named PINK that gives him control over whatever remains of the Ministry of Morale. Without knowing, Backlash mistakenly reawakens the pre-war menace 42 from cryostasis and sets her plans for revenge in motion. Traits Appearance Backlash is of average stature for an Earth Pony, and mildly overweight. He has a tan colored coat, with his mane and tail both being half brown, half gold. His eyes are the same golden color as his mane and tail are, and his cutie mark is of a pair of red gears, the smaller gear being the darker red of the two. He also carries a set of extreamly dirty, off white saddlebags on him at all times. As the story Progress's, Backlash obtains a pink Pipbuck that he wears on his left forehoof and an olive drab flak jacket he obtained from the DJ Pon3 of that time. Personality Backlash is a skittish pony and is easily scared by sudden or unexpect events. He has a one track mind and loses interest in things quickly when they don't sit in line with what he deems important, leading to him makeing extreamly short sighted decisions. In some cases, even making decisions that he know's full well are a bad idea, and that may end up putting him or others in harms way. He is also a self defeatist, putting less faith in himself than in the ponies around him, and is usualy the first to point out flaws in himself when they pop up. With the release of 42, his tendency to make quick and bad decisions increases, also choosing to bottle up his feelings about things in the greater interest of keeping the party cohesive and on task. Skills Backlash has an amazing amount of perception. His eyesight can observe subtle twiches and nuonces in ponies expressions, helping to determine the underlying thoughts behind them, also useing this to his advantage when making extreamly fine repairs to items. His hearing works in almost the same way, being able to pick up slight variances in speech to help sense the emotions of others. He uses these two senses to help tailor his responses when bartering or negotiating to determine what is the best deal to go with. To see the list of Perks Backlash has aquired, check Here. Equiptment Backlash has aquired a fair amount of notable objects along his journey. Pinkie Pie's spare PipBuck As part of a set given to Pinkie Pie, this PipBuck has several notable differences then the standard Stable-Tec model, most apparent of them is the pink colored exterior casing and user interface. One of the most notable features of it is the in S.A.T.S. use of PipBuck functions, allowing for the brousing of inventory, medical, and orginizer tabs. It also includes an experimental teleportation spell for assisting in the use of inventory items, able to equip weapons or use medicins from inside the S.A.T.S. spell. The Party Canon A wartime prototype developed as the last, direct colaboration between Pinkie Pie and Twilight Sparkle. The weapon has the same size and appearance of a 5-gallon bucket, although pink in coloration with a blue ring around the front end. A short stick juts our of the side of the cylinder just past the blue line as the only means of grip, and the whole weapon weights a total of three pounds. When fired, a ten inch iron cannonball is formed inside the barrel and projected outward at with enough force to crumple a tanks side armor. Heartstopper A semi-automatic shotgun made during the wartime period by Ironshod Firearms and found inside the ponyville Spa by Skyline. As a model IF-41 standard 12 guage shotgun, it has a 5+1 shell capacity and the ability to be outfit with a number of upgrades such as extended capacity, recoil buffers, and high visibilty iron sighs. Though it has no mechanical upgrades, it features a customised receiver with a red heart embossed on both sides. Relationships Skyline Backlash has the closests relationship to her out of the entire group and considers her his only remaining family member. He feels she is constantly nagging him about things, but takes stock in what she says as being correct, even if he doesn't see it that way. Backlash is very supportive of, and activly encourages the relationship Skyline has formed with Carlotta. Brass Tacks Initialy, Backlash distrusts him due to the injuries Brass gave him when they first met. Though Backlash sees him as unexperianced and stubborn, he quick grows fond of the young Ranger due too his admeration of the Bravery Brass exibits. Brass quickly becomes what Backlash considers to be his best friend, and forgives him for the circumstances they met under. Carlotta Knowing of the fierce loyalty that a Talon mercinary has, Backlash was quicker to trust Carlotta than Brass or Longbow. He both respects and is afraid of the fighting prowess she brings to the group and know's full well she will carry out an order if asked, but on multiple occasions has clashed with her when she has spoken her mind. Yew Longbow When they first met, Backlash viewed her more as somepony trying to bring law to the wastes, but reformed his opinion shortly after as she was shown to have the same ideals and values he held. He admires her dedication to the good of ponykind and uppon seeing her out of her power armor, admires her beauty. Behind the Scenes *Backlash's cutie mark was decided before any other characteristics such as race or colors were thought up. *Backlash is defined by Wikipedia as The play resulting from loose connections between gears or other mechanical elements. *He is based loosely on the character Vic from Fallout 2, who shares the traits of being an overweight trader with exceptional repair skills. Category:Characters Category:Earth ponies